Take a few steps down from Polizzi Generosa’s main street, into the silence of the vaulted basement of the 17th century former Jesuit monastery (now the home of Polizzi’s town hall), and there you will find a fabulous small archaeological museum filled with Hellenistic burial treasures (from the 4th -2nd century BC) uncovered in 1992 in the San Pietro suburban area just outside Polizzi's historic centre.

  An intriguing smile There is a portrait hanging in a small museum in Cefalu of an unknown man which 'some claim ... is a pirate from the Sicilian island of Lipari'.

Simply titled, The Unknown Man, (Ritratto di Ignoto) this small oil, 31cm x 24.5cm, is the masterpiece of Antonello da Messina, painted in 1470.

  A rose bush One afternoon a few months ago I was returning to Polizzi up the narrow Scillato road when I noticed a rose bush almost totally covered with red blooms.

It was spring.

A gift of  roses I stopped to take some photos and was soon welcomed by the owner of the garden plot behind the rose bush.  I met his wife and we talked a while. He gave me some beautiful cut roses and from memory, a sprig of mint.